MATIER & ROSS

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, May 28, 1995

THE LIFE -- AND LIFESTYLE -- OF CITIZEN REILLY:

Mayor Frank Jordan's high- priced campaign manager, Clint Reilly, sure has come a long way for a guy who got his start selling Mao buttons.

And apparently the former junk salesman intends to go a lot further, judging by his recent purchase of the stately, 15-story Merchants Exchange Building in downtown San Francisco for a cool $20 million.

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-- A $2 million, 66,000-square- foot commercial building at the Sutter Business Center, an office park opposite the Arco Arena in Sacramento.

-- Three condos at 1738, 1740 and 1742 Bush Street, where he once ran his San Francisco consulting business. Together, they are worth more than $500,000.

And, of course, there's Reilly's personal residence, a grand, $2.3 million Sea Cliff home on a bluff overlooking the Pacific and the Golden Gate Bridge.

How did he do it? Frankly, he's made a killing running campaigns.

Reilly lost the insurance industry's $70 million initiative campaign to beat back insurance reform in 1988, but he walked away with somewhere between $10 million and $15 million in commissions.

Reilly has also made millions running the statewide Democratic Voter Checklist, now considered California's most widely distributed slate mailer.

But if Reilly has a knack for earning money, he has not always won the lasting admiration of his clients.

He quit Dianne Feinstein's ill- fated gubernatorial campaign a few years back because she apparently wasn't raising money fast enough.

Last year he ran Democrat Kathleen Brown's failed bid for governor, only to lock horns with her later over his expensive billings. Reilly said he got stiffed for nearly $400,000, but the Brown campaign claimed he took them for a financial ride, making upwards of $2 million in the losing effort.

And, of course, there was the incident two years ago in which Reilly landed in the hospital with a broken ankle after a scuffle with a top editor in the offices of the San Francisco Examiner.

Reilly eventually got a hefty out-of-court settlement -- money he says was used to help make the down payment on his new $20 million real estate gem.

But for anyone who thought Reilly -- the onetime Jesuit seminarian and son of a milkman -- was just dabbling in real estate, think again.

It's a big part of his long-held dream to accumulate enough wealth and stature to join the city's power elite.

"Clint wants power -- economic power, political power, personal power," says his longtime friend and fellow consultant Jack Davis. "To the extent he succeeds, it becomes a tribute to him and an American success story."

Says Reilly of his latest real estate venture: "Obviously, this is a step up into a whole new league."

SENATE SHOWDOWN:

The "Thrilla in Manila" it ain't -- but insiders are getting more than a few laughs over the prospect of a knock-down, drag-out fight between State Assemblyman John Burton and former Mayor Art Agnos for the State Senate seat now held by Milton Marks.

The district is split 60-40 between San Francisco and Marin.

Despite their long-standing liberal alliance, Burton and Agnos have never really gotten along.

For a while there, it looked like Burton would be the only big Demo in the race.

But then Agnos, who had been thinking about running for mayor until Brown made his move, let it be known he might hop in the Senate race as well.

The sound of Agnos' footsteps has prompted Burton to speed up his campaign. He's been out every night hitting the campaign trail and trying to round up endorsements. So far, he seems to be getting them all, including U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and a host of San Francisco supervisors, plus a few up in Marin.

But the intriguing part of this race is the decidedly personal tone it's starting to take on.

Burton has called Agnos an "interesting guy" -- his way of saying Agnos is a a jerk.

Agnos, for his part, says that unlike Burton, he would be a full- time senator -- his way of saying Burton is making reams of money lobbying for corporate clients on the side.

As for the outcome, it's anyone guess -- but more than one insider is betting that if the Burton-Agnos fight really turns into a slugfest, then someone else (i.e. a woman from Marin) might jump in and wind up winning the race.